Mrs . Juliana Godwin, a 42-year-old Junior
Secondary School I (JSSI) student of Junior
Secondary School, Gosa, Abuja, has become one of
those persons with strong will to change her
condition.
Mrs. Godwin, who hails from Riyom in Riyom Local
Government Area of Plateau State, had her
education stalled by lack of sponsorship, a situation
that made her to drop out, in 1983, of LEA Primary
School, Riyom.
“I had to leave for Jos in 1983, since my father
could no longer sponsor my education to secondary
school because he had no money. While I was with
my cousin, I enrolled in a tailoring shop to learn
dress making. I completed it within a year and six
months”, she told Sunday Vanguard .
In 2001, she and her children left Jos to join her
husband in Abuja, where they live at Gosa village,
along Airport Road.
An industrious woman, Godwin became the bread-
winner of her family. Since had skill in hair plaiting,
that became a source of livelihood for her and the
family. Later she ventured into hawking of water in
a basin in Gosa market to boost the family’s
income.
“In 2003, I was able to save some money from
water hawking. I started pepper and tomato
business with N1,000 from the savings. I also went
into corn roasting business, but my husband
stopped me from the business in 2007,” she said.
In 2008, Godwin decided to go into vocational
training with a non-governmental organisation
called Refocusing Nigerian Talents Organisation,
RENITO, where she was trained in soap (liquid,
medicated and bar), pomade and disinfectants
production.
“Now I can produce and sell the products I was
trained on, and I started with N1,500”, Mrs. Godwin
narrated.
“I came to realise that the business was lucrative
and helpful to me and my family. I decided to make
savings towards going back to school after I
dropped out in 1983.
“My husband was against my decision and
quarrelled seriously with me. But I didn’t give up
on my decision. In 2013, I went on to enrol at
Junior Secondary School, Gosa, Airport Road, Abuja,
where I started in JSS I F. I was able to raise N10,
000 to pay for admission expenses.
“Why I decided to start from JSSI was because I had
never in my life stepped into the four walls of a
secondary school. I told myself I will start from JSS
I, as it will help me to have the foundation of
secondary school education and to understand what
I would be taught.
“My principal was surprised and asked me whether
I could cope with secondary school education as an
adult and a married woman. He and the staff also
encouraged me to continue since I had made up
my mind. But my husband continued making
trouble to stop me”.
She wants her teachers and principal to treat her
just like other students notwithstanding her age or
as a mother, because she wishes pass through the
school system, and is ready to accept every
academic and moral discipline that will shape her
future.
“I am the oldest person in the class of 80 students.
I participate in every school activity, and I am
happy with that. Even when I come late to school,
the teachers do punish me just like other students,
and I have no problem with that, but I do behave
myself as an adult.”
She is a mother of four children, who she sponsors
to the tune of N9,700 in a session while she also
takes care of the family’s upkeep. “I have seen
great changes in my life, and I am coping seriously.
My aim is to study marketing in the university after
I would have completed my senior secondary
education”, she added.
www.vanguardngr.com/2014/12/42-jss1-2/

very good step indeed

I hope she pulls through. It might be tough but I think she is very determined.

wao
education is never too late but she for hire private teacher.
Anyway Education is needed not compulsory.

nt bad at all... When Methuselah was on earth,he spent 969yrs.. Nobody knws whether he started Js1(if dia were or its equivalent) at 500yrs..